Chapter 181: Super-grade?

The dust settled.

The autumn wind, rustling fiercely, swept up the falling leaves, covering the messy Lin Ye shrouded in moonlight.

A figure covered in wounds lay on the black earth, blood seeping into the soil, occasionally letting out a faint, stifled cough:

"Cough..."

Step, step...

Xie Jinhuan, wearing sleeveless soft armor, walked seven paces away holding his sword, then drew the Tian Gang Jian.

Though no words were spoken, the Martial Dao had no dogma, no orthodoxy, no eternal life; what it sought was nothing but the 'technique of killing', so words were unnecessary.

One horizontal, one vertical—that was the entirety of the Martial Dao.

On the outskirts of the chaotic battlefield, Nangong Ye, wearing a veil hat and steaming with sweat, sighed deeply after witnessing the duel between the two 'half-demon' martial artists.

The path of cultivation often viewed martial artists as a low-threshold, unremarkable trade for coarse people, but a martial artist who truly survived to the top was indeed terrifyingly strong.

Combining the explosive power of the Demon Dao, the protection of the Buddhist Sect, the lightning speed of the Daoist Sect, and the cunning schemes of the Wu Sect, yet lacking the flaws of the other four schools.

Balanced internally and externally, seeking no outstanding strengths, only the absence of weaknesses; they looked like a rock, and apart from crushing them with realm superiority, one simply did not know how to fight them.

No wonder top martial artists viewed the other four schools as—mindless mad dogs, motionless sandbags, flashy glass cannons, and fragile, disassembled rats.

If all martial artists had foundations as steady as Xie Jinhuan's, then that would indeed be the case.

Fortunately, the Martial Dao was truly difficult to practice; nine out of ten martial artists in the world only knew a single move or two, and since 'there is no second in the Martial Dao', internal strife within the Martial Dao was even fiercer than in the Wu Sect, otherwise the other four schools would truly have no chance to rise.

Seeing the duel end, Nangong Ye drew his sword, walked out of the forest, and headed toward Xie Jinhuan.

Standing seven paces away, Xie Jinhuan looked at the blood-soaked He Man and did not humiliate a formidable opponent:

"Who is behind this? Speak plainly, and I will grant you dignity, sparing you the flesh-and-blood torment of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau."

"Cough..."

He Man's mouth and nose were full of blood; he tried to use his blood qi to heal his injuries, but with wounds this severe, he had exceeded the limit of his own blood qi's recovery. Without blood packs nearby, he could not recover, and now his eyes were slightly unfocused as he looked at the figure not far away and said hoarsely:

"It was... it was the Monk Wuxin..."

"Do you take me for a fool?"

"If you don't investigate, how would you know? Go check... heh..."

Xie Jinhuan knew this was nonsense and glanced at Bing Tuozi, who was walking over quickly, intending to ask what to do.

But at that very moment, the Ghost Wife, who followed like a shadow, suddenly whispered a warning in his ear:

"Be careful!"

As the words fell, a thunderous boom suddenly erupted from the distant forest:

Boom—

From the corner of his eye, he saw a black shadow, carrying terrifying momentum, flying horizontally from above the forest like a black meteor, plummeting straight toward Bing Tuozi's location!

Super-grade?

Xie Jinhuan's face instantly changed; the Zheng Lun Sword flashed from its sheath in the blink of an eye, he took a large step forward, pierced He Man's brow, and twisted violently.

Crack~!

The skull exploded!

Seeing the momentum of the approaching figure, Nangong Ye's eyes widened in shock, and she raised her sword to try to resist.

But the Yang Poison from the earlier fight had already swept through her lungs and heart; gathering her qi resulted in a stumble, so she could only grit her teeth and urge:

"Run quickly!"

At the same time, she wanted to rush forward to intercept at the cost of her life.

But what she never dreamed of was that after Xie Jinhuan slew the demon with a single sword strike, his body顺势 dove forward; a move called 'Black Dragon Strikes the Pillar' transformed his entire form into a python-dragon spanning the forest, and he flashed to the front.

And in that same instant, the black-clad figure, carrying overwhelming momentum, smashed into the ground, his right hand delivering a single-arm straight punch of supreme simplicity, attacking the two people before him!

Bang—

This punch possessed absolute Super-grade might; although it revealed no trace of any school's technique, the heavy fist caused the fallen leaves and sand within several zhang to shake into powder!

The terrifying fist intent even made Nangong Ye, who was behind, feel suffocated, as if facing a celestial god or Buddha; she wanted to pull Xie Jinhuan away but was powerless to do so!

Facing the sudden Super-grade assault, Xie Jinhuan had no chance to land and block; while still in the air, he used Gang Qi to protect his entire body, pushing the Pan Long Heng Gang technique to its limit, forcibly using the soft armor on his chest and abdomen to absorb the blow, not daring to waste even a shred of qi on futile dodging or blocking.

And the power of this punch did not disappoint him!

Thud!

The black-clad figure, carrying vast heavenly might, struck the chest and abdomen with a single-arm heavy fist, instantly piercing the protective Gang Qi and then cracking the solidified Ice Soul Armor!

Crack—

Jin Guang surged from Xie Jinhuan's brow to protect his entire body, yet shattered in an instant!

The heavy fist pierced through three layers of protection without losing momentum, finally landing on his pectoral muscles and actually denting the flesh supported by the Pan Long Heng Gang!

The heavy impact spread throughout his body; Xie Jinhuan instantly became like an arrow loosed from a bow, shooting backward and colliding with the woman behind him.

Under the impact, the two overlapped and flew backward; the fallen leaves in the forest were torn apart by the qi force, the trees directly ahead were almost flattened, creating a black earth trench over a zhang wide that stretched for a hundred zhang until the two figures disappeared into the dim end of the forest!

Boom-boom-boom—

The black-clad figure had originally planned to first kill the female cultivator with the higher cultivation, then turn to blast Xie Jinhuan to death, attempting to save the sect's personnel.

But after throwing his full-power punch, instead of blasting Xie Jinhuan, who had rushed to silence him, he ended up sending both of them flying, leaving the man clearly stunned.

After all, this 'four-layer Wang Ba shell' from the inside out, stacking armor so excessively, was simply ridiculous.

His kill-punch only pierced three and a half layers.

Soft armor, Gang Qi, and Domineering Body were understandable, but where did this Jin Guang Spell with such strong defensive power come from?

After the black-clad figure recovered, he wanted to deliver a finishing blow, but before the sound of their flying shot had even ceased, a roar rose again from the depths of the forest:

Boom-boom-boom...

Nangong Ye, discovering that Xie Jinhuan had thrown himself in front of her to block the blade at the cost of his life, felt her heart and intestines tear apart, and tears burst from her eyes!

Even though his body was struck and his internal organs violently shaken, he ignored his own injuries, holding Xie Jinhuan tightly with all his strength, making a nearly futile attempt to prevent this body from shattering into minced meat before her eyes.

But this was obviously wishful thinking; as Nangong Ye flew backward, he smashed through tree branches, his peripheral vision catching a glimpse of the yellow-haired man whose chest and abdomen might already be shattered...

He found Xie Jinhuan's chest and abdomen completely intact; he was just staring at the black-clad man ahead. Realizing they had put some distance between them, he spun mid-air, clamped her under his arm with one hand, and stomped heavily on the side of a tree trunk with one foot.

Boom-boom-boom—

Without pause, the Black Dragon slammed into the pillar, thrusting forward at full speed toward the outskirts. In the blink of an eye, he surged nearly ten times, fleeing more than two or three li!

Under the full-speed thrust, the surrounding scenery blurred into shadows. Nangong Ye's gaze fixed on Xie Jinhuan; her phoenix-shaped beautiful eyes were also filled with shock, and she thought silently:

What kind of copper skin and iron bones is this?!

How can you still be unharmed after this?

Xie Jinhuan had instantly pierced through two layers of life-saving talismans; he seemed fine, but his heart was bleeding!

However, with death at his doorstep, he truly could not care about external possessions; he just held Bing Tuozi and charged forward at full speed, surging toward Jingcheng.

Boom-boom-boom...

To the black-clad man, the scene was a single punch that boosted his opponent's speed to the extreme, followed by consecutive "Black Dragon Pillar Strikes," raising a spiral tornado in the Jiang'an Lin Ye, shooting out of sight in the blink of an eye.

?

Such an escape speed was more terrifying than the Demon Daoist's Xuan Ming Transforming Crow.

If the black-clad man pursued strongly, he would likely be intercepted by the Daoist or Buddhist Zhang Sect who had sensed the disturbance. For this reason, he withdrew his gaze, looked at He Man whose head had already exploded, and quickly disappeared into the forest carrying the corpse...

——

Boom-boom-boom...

Along the banks of the Luo River, air waves churned like a dragon or python making a fierce attack.

Xie Jinhuan, with Bing Tuozi burning hot in his arms, charged out more than ten times regardless of the cost, nearly draining his Qi Sea to the bottom on the spot.

To prevent losing all combat capability, after the final surge, Xie Jinhuan's figure instantly turned silent and invisible. He landed near an official road where merchants were rushing about, moving stealthily, while asking A Piao to help survey the surroundings.

Suddenly appearing, a Super Rank powerhouse had startled Ye Hongshang as well. Now floating beside him, he surveyed the atmospheric conditions of the surrounding heavens and earth:

"It seems they haven't caught up."

"Huff... huff..."

Xie Jinhuan was covered in violent sweat, panting like an ox, and did not forget to check Bing Tuozi's condition while flying.

Nangong Ye had acted at Songhe Bay; the Yang Poison had fully erupted. She never expected that before the Immortal Official arrived, a Super Rank powerhouse would have killed out.

Although her fatal punch was blocked by Xie Jinhuan, just the impact itself was not easy to bear; she was already feeling dizzy and faint.

Having not yet escaped death, Nangong Ye dared not seal her divine sense; at this moment, she even felt a bit regretful, wondering why she had been so hesitant and not cleared the Yang Poison sooner.

If she were at her peak, she wouldn't say killing that black-clad man, but at least protecting Xie Jinhuan's escape with the "Ten Thousand Miles Divine Travel Spell" would be no problem.

As it was, in this state, she actually let a child risk his life to save her. If Xie Jinhuan's foundation hadn't been so astonishing, both of them would have died here today!

If she died, she would just consider it a martyrdom for the Dao; but how old was Xie Jinhuan? If he died saving her, she would rather be disgraced and have her reputation ruined, being looked down upon by her disciples and fellow Daoists in the future, than have her disciple hate her for a lifetime and the Righteous Path lose a talented person...

At this moment, being held while fleeing for her life, Nangong Ye's eyes held no more of their usual sharpness; she just gritted her teeth and said:

"You go quickly, don't worry about me..."

"I've already run out; you tell me not to worry about you. Can you hold on?"

"I took medicine; I can barely suppress it... That black-clad man has entered Super Rank, his identity is unknown. Don't turn back to Jingcheng for now; hide..."

Xie Jinhuan ran at full speed, not daring to be careless even a little in his heart.

After all, Super Rank and First Rank are two different concepts.

Super Rank is transcending the mortal to enter the immortal; crossing into it is extremely difficult. Without forced realm-breaking items like Hu Gu Teng, Phoenix Feather Grass, or Blood Hua Yao Dan, for a normal cultivator to cross into Super Rank on their own, it is roughly the difficulty of "sudden enlightenment"; ninety percent of cultivators never have the chance in their lives.

And with heaven and earth resources scarce, the number of Super Ranks is naturally limited. In the Great Qian's thirty-two prefectures, there is only one or two per prefecture, all being the heads of sects that monopolize the cultivation resources of a prefecture.

The remaining people, like Zhang Guan, Li Lao, and others, possess heavenly treasures and earthly gems; they could actually enter Super Rank, but even if sect resources had extras, they could only save them for their descendants, to be used on the blade's edge, unable to pour them into them.

If resources were used to force it hard, that would be Cao Fo'er, the Super Rank guard fed out by the Qian Emperor regardless of cost. Strong as he is, compared to other Super Ranks, he clearly has watered-down substance.

For this reason, the Super Ranks under heaven are basically Gu Kings who have killed their way out, crushing all competitors; their identities and foundations are never low.

Xie Jinhuan originally thought the mastermind behind the Jingcheng demon bandits was a ruthless person half-step to Super Rank; he truly did not expect a Super Rank to kill out halfway.

Within a thousand li around the Jingzhao Prefecture, known experts above Super Rank are few on the fingers:

Lu Wu Zhen, Monk Wuxin, Wei Wu Yi and his father, Mu Yunling, Li Chi Mo of Xuan Fox Temple, the Abbot of Fan Yun Temple, and Cao Fo'er.

The "Three Wus" ancestors can be ruled out; these three would not fail to deal with him.

The remaining five ancestors are harder to guess; the black-clad man just now clearly feared exposure of his identity, using only a heavy punch to strike, not demonstrating any sect supernatural powers.

Xie Jinhuan couldn't figure out who it was, but fortunately, he still had A Piao with him, who reminded him at this moment:

"Although the person was in black and masked just now, they did not deliberately conceal their internal condition; they are not a Demon Daoist, but seem to be someone from the Buddhist Sect."

"Buddhist Sect?"

Xie Jinhuan frowned.

If it is a Buddhist Super Rank, then it can only be Monk Jinghai of Fan Yun Temple or Cao Fo'er.

Cao Fo'er, noble as the Factory Director of the Red Scale Guard, if he were from the Mingshen Sect, he could have killed him when he first arrived in Jingcheng; why would he need to wait until today?

As for the Abbot of Fan Yun Temple, he didn't know him...

Xie Jinhuan temporarily couldn't figure out who it was either, but he knew that if the black-clad man really wanted to kill him, turning back to Jingcheng now would very likely be walking into a trap.

If Bing Tuozi could recover her body, the two of them combined would have a chance to escape; otherwise, being ambushed by someone waiting like a hunter for a rabbit would mean certain death.

So currently, he must first let Bing Tuozi recover some combat power before daring to run back...

Bing Tuozi telling him to hide clearly meant the same thing.

Thinking of this, Xie Jinhuan looked at Bing Tuozi held under his arm:

"Where should we hide?"

Nangong Ye was actually also guessing the identity of the black-clad figure; as the sect master of Danzhou, she dared not trust a single fellow Daoist from outside, and gritted her teeth, saying:

"Go to Danyang. The Academy and Mount Zihui cannot be connected to the Mingshen Sect; it is safer than Jingcheng. That black-clad figure certainly won't think we'd run north. We'll deal with the injuries first, then return."

Danyang was right at the gate of Jingzhao Prefecture; with Xie Jinhuan's current speed, it was not too far. He immediately flipped Seeing Bing Tuozi over, hoisted her onto his back, embraced her legs, and urged forth the icy cold qi mechanism to help stabilize the Yang poison, then turned and sped toward Huaijiang:

"You suppress the Yang poison; leave the rest to me."

Nangong Ye's mind was already nearly scattered by the Yang poison; amidst the jolting, she discovered Xie Jinhuan's left arm was gushing blood, and he was so exhausted he panted like an ox, her eyes filled entirely with heartache and guilt.

But at present she truly had no other choice, so she could only lean on his shoulder:

"You've worked hard."

"Enough, as long as we're alive..."

Tap tap tap...

Two figures raced through the dark of the river wilds, striving to suppress their sounds; in an instant, they had vanished from the farthest reaches of sight...

I got up at midnight; this chapter is just finished. I'll write one more chapter, or two.

(End of this chapter)